customer stories

Wild Planet Foods, a provider of sustainably caught wild seafood, grew from $2 million in revenue in 2008 to $20 million in 2010 and $60 million today—without compromising on its mission. How’d the company do it?

Great manufacturing companies grow from the community. And having exceptional products designed and made right down the street does more than create jobs—it boosts local innovation, environmental responsibility, quality of life and pride. That, in a nutshell, is the idea behind Heath Ceramics, a manufacturer of artisan pottery that’s been part of the Bay Area since 1948.

“Forty years and a million lives changed,” is how Susan Smartt, president and CEO of NatureBridge, describes her organization’s achievements so far. Every year, the nonprofit sends around 30,000 K-12 students from 600 schools across the country on three- to five-day field science programs in spectacular outdoor classrooms: our national parks.

Tillamook County, home to the eponymous creamery cooperative, has over 25,000 cows—and those cows produce a lot of waste. But Farm Power Northwest is about to turn a problem into a solution. Using manure from 2,000 cows, its anaerobic manure digester will generate almost 1 megawatt of electricity—enough to power 600 to 700 homes.

James Freeman, founder of Blue Bottle Coffee Company , started selling coffee in August 2002. His first customers were the crowds at farmers markets in California—first in Oakland, then in Berkeley and at San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Over the next several years, the buzz around Blue Bottle grew, and café and kiosk locations followed. Then the company began to look beyond the San Francisco Bay Area’s borders.

When New Resource client Tioga Energy needed additional financing to support municipal solar projects in the Northeast, Vice President Matt Scullin suggested that they contact Adam Capital Clean Energy Asset Finance, a private investment fund dedicated to supporting the clean energy industry. The New Resource client network paid off for both parties.

Several years ago, New Resource Bank customers Will Pacio and Fred Tang had a vision about creating a restaurant blending authentic Asian cuisine with classic French culinary techniques—while employing sustainable business practices. The result is Spice Kit, an eight-month-old San Francisco eatery that’s bringing something fresh to the financial district’s typical midday fare of burgers and BLTs.

“Relationship management—it’s that simple,” says Brian Hassan, co-founder of BayPoint Benefits, when asked what prompted his company to switch to New Resource Bank two years ago. “Personal relationships are the core of BayPoint’s client-focused philosophy, so New Resource was a perfect fit for us.”

An unusual passion isn’t necessarily the best foundation for a thriving business. But if that passion advances sustainability and saves cities and towns across the country a lot of money, you could be onto something.

Jason Tanko had that experience with streetlights. “I’ve always loved streetlights, and I had the idea to capture and reuse these fixtures,” he says. The result? Tanko Streetlighting Services, a San Francisco-based streetlight retrofitter serving more than 200 cities in eight states.

Lucien Jamey grew up in France and Switzerland surrounded by a family of engineers and entrepreneurs. It turned out to be the ideal background for the president and CEO of San Francisco-based Sunmoor Properties, a management firm that helps clients increase property values with comprehensive green retrofits of existing buildings.

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